There has been a lot written on this forum about quality photo papers such as Canson Baryta or Ilffor Graleri Prestige Gold Fiber papers. These papers look intriguing but to get the most out of them I need a good profile and they are expensive. What about just using something like Epson Utra Premium Luster? From what I understand Epson's profiles are just fine and the paper is much cheaper. Can one really see the difference one your prints are matted? I ask because I am almost out of Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl that I have used for years and the fact that I give most of my work away making this an expensive hobby.
I can't compare Epson Luster to the Ilford Galerie Pearl from personal experience, but from all I've read the Ilford is a bit heavier and has a bit more of a quality feel. Both are RC (resin coated) papers, which means they've been engineered for maximum toughness together with excellent colour characteristics. (RC inkjet papers in general are very much akin to the papers used by photo labs to make the set of 4x6 inch prints we associate with snapshot film photography.) For those who think in terms of gallery and connoisseur sales RC papers have neither a reputation for longevity nor any pretense at artistic cachet. Since you talk of giving prints away and of your concern re expense, I'd say by all means go with RC. If anyone wants to pay you for a print, then you can start talking fibre, cotton rag, and baryta.
Since I print 95% for my own use, I not only routinely use RC, but I use an Epson Luster clone that looks exactly like the Epson product and gives exactly the same results as the Epson product using the Epson Luster profile that came with my 3880. I strongly suspect it is indeed the same paper from the same mill but re-badged as Inkpress Luster. Depending on where you live you may have access to some other clone that is also the same paper, just in a different package.
That said, just because a paper says it's an RC luster, doesn't mean it has anything like the quality of the Epson and Inkpress Lusters (or of the Ilford Gallerie you're used to). If you want to go this route, and the Inkpress clone is not available where you live, I'd ask on this forum for alternatives.
Another point to consider. The Ilford Gold Fibre Silk that people are so fond of has an extremely fragile surface. The merest brush of one sheet's edge over the printed surface of another sheet, for example, is enough to leave a scratch, or at least a scuff. The word silk in the paper name apparently refers to the lack of texture in its surface. This lack of texture, combined with the lack of the polyethylene/resin coating, seems to go hand-in-hand with scratch proneness. (Leaving the print to dry for a full week does reduce this scratch proneness to a certain degree.)
